Age-old debate revisited with Foles on S.I. cover

Chip Kelly closed his press conference on Wednesday by saying he doesn't believe in the Sports Illustrated jinx, which really was the only thing he could have said after being asked, when you think about it.

But here's the deal: the Eagles rookie coach's quarterback, Nick Foles, has made this week's cover, which supposedly opens him up to the immediate and nasty fates of so many others over the decades.

Actually, the famous sports magazine has taken to doing a lot of regional covers that vary based on geography. But still, some of the most recent cover subjects, Ohio State football and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, went on to suffer defeats right after the release. The Buckeyes hadn't lost in two seasons until they were one of three regional covers. Romo was one of the others on the same week, and his team responded by falling out of first place in the NFC East with a brutal loss at Chicago.

Going back to the week before, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron was featured on the cover -- just before his undefeated team lost to archrival Auburn on the final play, which might have been the wackiest, most improbable fluke in the history of the game.

Last month, former Kelly recruit Marcus Mariota, the quarterback of formerly unbeaten Oregon, was front and center. The Ducks then fell at Stanford and again two weeks later at Arizona.